Container and closure therefor



June 22, 1965 w. H. M KNIGHT, JR

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 29, 1962 Illll INVENTOR. 4410M 6 fif /M0607 ArroRNL-Y United States Patent 3,190,481 CONTAINER ANDCLOSURE THEREFOR William H. McKnight, Jr., Corning, N.Y., assignor toCorning Glass Works, Corning, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug.29, 1962, Ser. No. 220,290 2 Claims. (Cl. 215-39) The present inventionrelates to containers and to closures therefor, and more particularly tosealing closures for containers usually, but not necessarily composed ofglass, in a fashion that the seals remain intact under substantialpressure as well as vacuum conditions within the containers.

So far as applicant is aware, in all closure-container combinations inwhich readily deformable sheet material has been embodied in theclosures, the same have been in the form of plain flat or concavo-convexdiscs bridging the entire top surface of the container mouth borderingwall. Such covers are secured to the containers by being crimped ortooled down and around an under surface of an annular bead portion ofthe container bordering its mouth and with a gasket compressed betweenthe cover and the container. This general form of closure whileproducing an effective pressure seal as applied to small mouthedcontainers, such as beverage bottles and the like, becomes lesseffective progressively with progressively larger mouthed containerssuch as tumblers and the like, particularly in larger sizes the use ofsuch closures is limited to vacuum pack or very low pressure pack,because internal pressure tends to lift the lid 01f the sealing area.

According to the invention, the container is closed by a cover formed ofreadily formable sheet material having formed therein a shallow walledcup-like portion adapted to neatly fit into the container mouth and tojointly, with its bottom, substantially close such mouth. The wall ofsuch cup-like portion extends radially over the mouth bordering portionof the container thence downwardly and inwardly and is under tensionwith its free edge pressed against the exterior under surface of theannular bead portion of the container bordering its mouth. As iscustomary, a sealing gasket is compressed between the top surface of thecontainer and the oppositely disposed under surface of the cover. Aswill be appreciated, although internal pressures within the containermay be sufficient to cause an outward bulging of the bottom of thecentral cup-like portion of the cover, it will have little effect on thesealed area because of the rigidity of its circumferentially confinedsurrounding wall and accordingly the pressure limiting factors residesolely in the ability of the container or cover material per se, towithstand such pressures rather than in the seal.

For a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a cover-container combinationembodying the invention as it appears just before deforming the cover toseal the container mouth, and showing, partly in section, a toolsuitable for so deforming the cover.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the showing of FIG. 1with the seal completed by such tool.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 11 designates a widemouth glass container having a top 3,l9@,481 Patented June 22, 1965oepning or mouth whose bordering wall internally is cylindrical or maybe said to be parallel to the path of entrance thereinto, and whose topsurface joins such wall about a convenient radius of curvature and thenslants downwardly and is formed into a surrounding annular bead 13.

The cover comprises a sheet of readily deformable material which isformed into a shallow-walled cup-like portion, the bottom 14 jointlywith its surrounding wall 15 being of a size and shape to neatly fitinto and substantially close the opening in container 11, asillustrated. A radial extension 16 of the wall 15 passes over acompressible gasket 20 arranged between the top of the container and theunder surface of the radial extension 16.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the extension 16, at its outer extremity, isinitially formed into a channel 17 with the edge 21 facing a line ofjuncture approximately with the bottom of bead 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, however, it will be seen that in use, the cover hasbeen deformed to press the material thereof and gasket 20 downwardlyabout the bead 13 with the material placed under tension with its edge21 in engagement with the under side of head 13.

Such deformation of the cover can be readily effected by a tool 30 shownarranged thereover and which may be lowered down over the cover to theposition shown in FIG. 2 in a conventional fashion to effect itsnecessary deformation.

In some instances, it may be desirable to exert downward pressure on theregion 16 of the cover while deforming it. This may be done by equippingthe tool 30 with a ring, similar to that arranged about a conventionalglass pressing plunger, which would be carried by tool 30 and afterengaging the cover, compress springs to resiliently engage such regionof the cover before its actual deformation is initiated.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a wide-mouth glass container having a radiallyoutwardly-extending annular bead portion bordering the open mouthportion of the container with the annular head portion having asubstantially flat exterior under surface, a closure of readilydeformable sheet material comprising, a shallow-walled cup-like portionhaving a substantially fiat continuous bottom portion complementarilypositioned downwardly within and substantially closing said open mouthportion, said cuplike portion having a bounding wall portion extendingupwardly about the periphery of said bottom portion, a radialcontinuation of said wall portion overlying the upper surface of saidannular head, a tensioned U-shaped channel extending downwardly fromsaid radial continuation, and a free edge of said U-shaped channelextending vertically upwardly in compressive abutment with thesubstantially fiat under surface of said annular bead portion tosecurely maintain the closure upon the container.

2. The combination with a wide-mouth glass container having a radiallyoutwardly-extending annular bead portion bordering an open mouth portionof the container, wherein the annular head portion has a substantiallyflat exterior under surface, of a closure of sheet material comprising;a shallow-walled cup-like portion having a substantially flat continuousbottom portion and an upwardly-extending bounding wall portioncomplementarily positioned downwardly within and substantially closingsaid open mouth portion, said cup-like portion being in the form of aclosed-ended cylinder with said bounding wall portion extendingvertically upwardly adjacent the inner surface of said open mouthportion, said bounding wall portion having a radial continuationoverlying the upper surface of said annular head, a continuous U-shapedchannel extending downwardly in tension about the entire periphery ofsaid radial continuation, and a free edge of said U-shaped channelextending vertically upwardly in compressive abutment with the substantially fiat under surface of said annular bead portion to securelymaintain the closure upon the container.

4 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS4/59 Germany.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A WIDE-MOUTH GLASS CONTAINER HAVING A RADIALLYOUTWARDLY-EXTENDING ANNULAR BEAD PORTION BORDERING THE OPEN MOUTHPORTION OF THE CONTAINER WITH THE ANNULAR BEAD PORTION HAVING ASUBSTANTIALLY FLAT EXTERIOR UNDER SURFACE, A CLOSURE OF READILYDEFORMABLE SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING, A SHALLOW-WALLED CUP-LIKE PORTIONHAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT CONTINUOUS BOTTOM PORTION COMPLEMENTARILYPOSITIONED DOWNWARDLY WITHIN AND SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSING SAID OPEN MOUTHPORTION, SAID CUPLIKE PORTION HAVING A BOUNDING WALL PORTION EXTENDINGUPWARDLY ABOUT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BOTTOM PORTION, A RADIALCONTINUATION OF SAID WALL PORTION OVERLYING THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAIDANNULAR BEAD, A TENSIONED U-SHAPED CHANNEL EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROMSAID RADIAL CONTINUATION, AND A FREE EDGE OF SAID U-SHAPED CHANNELEXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARDLY IN COMPRESSIVE ABUTMENT WITH THESUBSTANTIALLY FLAT UNDER SURFACE OF SAID ANNULAR BEAD PORTION TOSECURELY MAINTAIN THE CLOSURE UPON THE CONTAINER.